Adjustable chair



y 8, 1963 a. A. BOGART I 3,091,426

ADJUSTABLE CHAIR Filed May 8, 1961 7 INENTOR. George A. Bogart BY Ato/ways United States Patent Office 3,091,426 Patented May 28, 19633,091,426 ADJUSTABLE CHAIR George A. Bogart, Cleveland, Ohio, assignorof forty-nine percent to Arthur J. Klein Filed May 8, 1961, Ser. No.108,620 7 Claims. (Cl. 248-393) The present invention is directed to anadjustable chair and is particularly directed to a chair that is adaptedfor use by individuals with limited muscular control such as personscrippled with arthritis and the like, the chair being constructed tohelp such persons change from a sitting position to a standing positionand vice versa.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedadjustable chair that can he used by an individual with limited muscularcontrol such as a person whose legs are crippled with arthritis, thechair having a til-ting seat frame that aids the person in or out of thechair.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable chairthat has a tilting sea-t frame for aiding a person of limited muscularcontrol in sitting or standing and which can he easily adjusted toaccommodate individuals of different sizes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a chair for use byan individual having limited muscular control such as a person who hasarthritis in his legs and hips, the chair having a tilting seat framehaving a forward portion that is adapted to support the persons legsjust above his knees during the act of sitting down in the chair orduring the act of getting up out of the chair.

These and other objects will be apparent from the specification thatfollows, the appended claims, and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an adjustable chair embodying thepresent invention with the seat frame in its tilted position;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly in section, of theadjustable chair and shown with the seat frame in its tilted position;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the chair of FIG. 2with the seat frame in its normal collapsed position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view showing the adjustable connectingmeans for hingeably connecting the seat frame and the base frame of thechair, the connecting means being adjusted so that the forward portionof the tilted seat frame is raised to its highest position above thefront portion of the base frame; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of the adjustable connecting means shown inFIG. 4 except that the connecting means is adjusted so that the distancethe forward portion of the tiltable seat frame moves above the frontpart of the base frame is the least amount.

The present invention provides an adjustable chair for use byindividuals with limited muscular control such as persons havingailments such as arthritis in their legs. The chair is so constructedthat the forward portion of the seat supports the backs of the legs of aperson just above the knees and simulates the natural movement of theknees and legs in getting up from a sitting position or in sitting downon the chair. As will hereinafter appear in more detail, all the personneeds to do in going from a sitting to a standing position is tostraighten out from the very slightly stooped position that he is placedin by the tilting and upward movement of the chair seat.

The improved adjustable chair comprises a seat frame 2 with a forwardportion 3 and a seat cushion 4, and a base frame 7 for supporting theseat frame. The base frame 7 includes a forward portion 8 and preferablyhas four legs 9, each of which legs may be provided with a wheel 10 asshown in the drawings.

Means for tilting the seat frame is provided comprising a motor, pulleyand lead-screw assembly 11 which includes a motor 12, the motor beingoperatively connected to a driving pulley 13. The pulley 1'3 drives aninternally threaded pulley 16 by means of a V-belt 14 and, the pulley 16is in threaded engagement with a lead screw 17, which, in turn, pushesthe seat frame 2 up into its tilted position or pulls it down into itsnormal collapsed position.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the motor, pulley and lead-screw assembly11 is pivotably mounted to the base frame by a pivotal connection 18.Also, the upper end of the lead screw is pivotably connected to the seatframe at point 19 so that the entire assembly 11 can swivel or pivotwith the tilting of the frame.

In accordance with the present invention, connecting means for hingeablyconnecting the front part 3 of the seat frame and the front part 8 ofthe base frame together is provided, the connecting means including apair of hinge members 20, each hinge member being located preferablyunder a front corner of the seat frame. The connecting means is soarranged and constructed that the front portion 3 of the seat frame israised upwardly and outwardly away from the forward portion 8 of thebase frame when the seat frame is tilted from its normal collapsedposition shown in FIG. 3 to its tilted position shown in FIG. 2. Thus,it can be seen that the front part 3 of the seat frame travels in anarcuate path during the tilting motion of the seat frame.

Means is provided for reversibly actuating the above described tiltingmean-s effective to move the connecting means so as to carry the frontportion 3- of the seat frame forwardly and upwardly above the frontportion 8 of the base frame. As best seen in FIG. 2, the means foractuating the tilting means comprises a switch 23 which is connected tomotor 12 by an electrical conduit 22 for activating the lifting orretracting movement of the lead screw 17. The switch 23, having a handle23a, is mounted on an arm 24 of the seat frame 2 and is connected to along rod 25 by a short lever bar 26. The lower end of rod 25 is providedwith a locking nut 27 which can be moved up and down on the rod to apredetermined position to provide a means of stopping the upward travelof the lead screw. Thus, when the locking nut 27 hits the base frame 7as shown in FIG. 2, the switch 23 is moved to its off position by thelever action of bar 26. The turning of the switch to its off positionstops the motor 12 and, thus, the lead screw ad Vance is stopped and theseat frame is in its tilted position where a person can ride the seatframe to a sitting position or else can get off the seat frame andassume a normal standing position from a slightly stooped stance.

In a similar manner, when desiring the seat frame to be returned to itsnormal position, that handle 23a can be placed in its on position toactivate the motor and retract the lead screw 17. The retraction of thelead screw 17 is stopped by means of a collar 27a which hits the baseframe 7 and, preventing further downward movement of rod 25 and causinglever arm 26 to move switch arm 23a to its off position.

Describing the above mentioned connecting means and adjusting means indetail, the connecting means, as previously indicated, comprises thepair of hinges 20, each hinge member disposed under one front corner ofthe seat frame and comprising a first lever 30 having one end 31pivotably connected at point 33 to the base frame by a yoke 34 to ahorizontal frame bar 34a and its other end 35 slidably connected to theseat frame 2 by means of an opening 36 in a hollow upper stabilizingswivel rod 37 and a second lever 40 having one end 41 pivotablyconnected to the seat frame at point 42 by a yoke 44 to a horizontalfront seat frame bar 44a and its other end 45 slidably connected to thebase frame 7 through opening 46 in a hollow lower stabilizing swivel rod47.

The levers and 40' not only hingeably connect the seat frame and baseframe together when the seat frame istilted to a position to dischargeor receive a person, but the levers also provide a stabilizing action toprevent lateral movement of the seat frame with respect to the baseframe. Thus, the slid'able connections of the two levers through theswivel bars 37 and 47 stabilize and steady the seat frame on the baseframe.

As previously indicated,-an important part of the present invention isthe co-action of the levers 30 and 40 by which action the forward part 3of the seat frame is moved upwardly and forwardly from the front part 8of the base frame. As seen by comparing the position of front part3 ofthe seat frame with the front part 8 of the base frame in FIG. 3 withthe tilted positions shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the front of the seatframe is thrown forwardly of the front of the base frame an appreciabledistance. Thus, pivot point 42 of the front seat frame moves upwardlyand forwardly in a path that is an arc of a circle with the pivot point33 of the front base frame the center of the circle. To obtain still agreater forward distance and to help stabilize the tilted position ofthe chair to reduce any tendency for the front end to collapse, thefinger end of the lever 30 is preferably curved or arcuate in shape. Thecurved finger 35, thus, slides through the opening of the swivel bar 37readily, but at the same time rides in the opening 36 with two decidedcontact points to provide a' slightly greater frictional drag on thefinger; also, the distal end 35 is preferably curved downwardly as shownin the drawings so that it does not rise above the seat level and hencedoes not get in the way of the person using the chair.

Novel adjusting means is provided for the connecting means whereby thedistance'that the'front portion 3 of the seat frame is raised above thefront portion 8 of the base can be changed to accommodate anyindividualregardless of his build. Continuing to describe the connectingmeans including the novel adjusting means, each of the levers 30 and isprovided with an enlarged central portion 50 and 55, respectively. Thecentral portion 50 of lever 30'is provided with a plurality of generallyparallel pin-receiving openings'58 which are disposed generally alongits longitudinal axis while central portion 55 of lever 40 is providedwith a plurality of openings 59 which are positioned in a row generallyparallel to its longitudinal axis.

In accordance with the present invention, and-by using the openings 58and 59 above described, the distance that the front portion 3 of theseat frame is pushed forwardly and above the front part 8 of the baseframe can be easily and quickly adjusted.

As shownin FIGS. 2 and 3, a pin 60 is inserted through the middleopening of the openings 58 of lever 30 and the middle opening of theopenings 59 of lever 40 to provide a pivotal connection therebetween.When it is desired to have the front part 3 of the seat frame movehigher above the base frame front 8 when the chair is tilted, the pin 60can be moved to the extreme left hand opening of the openings 58 and theextreme left-hand opening of the openings 59 as shown in FIG. 4. If itbe considered that the short finger 31 of lever 30 and the short finger41 of lever 40 be the jaws of a nut cracker, it can be seen that thefingers or jaws 31 and 41 are spread open the widest when the pin is inthe' position shown in FIG. 4.

In a similar manner, when less distance is desired between the seatframe front 3 and the base frame front 8 as when a person withrelatively short legs desires to use the chair, the pin 60 may beinserted between aligned holes 58 of lever 30 and 59 of lever 40 asshown in FIG. 5, the aligned holes being the holes on the extreme rightend of the row of openings 58 and 59, respectively.

Thus, the distance that the front part 3 of the seat frame moves abovethe base frame front 8 can be conveniently changed to accommodateindividuals of various builds. The pin so may be placed in any pair ofthe aligned openings of the rows of openings 58 and 59, depending uponthe individual using the chair. With each adjustment of pin 60 toaccommodate various individuals, the locking nut 27 on rod 25 may beadjusted to stop the upward travel of the lead screw at a properpredetermined position.

It is to be understood that, in accordance with the provisions of thepatent statutes, various modifications of the present invention may bemade without departing in spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable chair having a seat frame with a front portion and abase frame with a front portion for supporting the seat frame,reversible tilting means for moving the seat frame toward and away fromthe base frame and including connecting means for hingeably connectingthe front portion of the seat frame with the front portion of the baseframe including a pivotal connection on the upper front portion of thebase fr-ame'and a pivotal connection on the lower front portion of theseat frame, the pivotal connections being generally vertically alignedwhen the seat frame is in its normal collapsed position, means forreversibly actuating said tilting means effective to move saidconnecting means to tilt said seat frame and to carry the front portionthereof in an arcuate path forwardly of and above the front portion ofthe base frame and move the lower front seat frame pivotal connection ina direction forwardly of the pivotal connection on the base framewhereby the pivotal connections are not vertically aligned.

2. An adjustable chair having a seat frame with a front portion and abase frame with a front portion for'supporting the seat frame,reversible tilting means for moving the seat frame toward and away fromthe base frame and including connecting means for hingeably connectingthe front portion of the seat frame with the front portion of the baseframe including a pivotal connection on the upper front'portion of thebase frame and a pivotal connection on the lower front portion of theseat frame, the pivotal connections being generally vertically alignedwhen the seat frame is in its normal collapsed position, means forreversibly actuating said tilting means effective to move saidconnecting means to tilt said seat frame and to carry the front portionthereof in an arcuate path forwardly of and above the front portion ofthe base frame and move the lower front seat frame pivotal connection ina direction forwardly ofthe pivotal connection on the base frame wherebythe pivotal connections are not vertically aligned, and said connectingmeans includes adjusting means for selectively varying the arcuatedistance the front portion of the seat frame moves relative to the frontportion of the base frame.

3. An adjustable chair having a seat frame with a front portion and abase frame with a front portion for supporting the seat frame, the frontportion of said base frame being vertically aligned with the frontportion of the seat frame when the chair is in its normal collapsedposition for supporting a human body in a sitting position, reversibletilting means for moving the seat'frame toward and away from the baseframe and including con-' necting means for hingeably connecting thefront portion of the seat frame with the front portion of the base frameincluding a pivotal connection on the upper front portion of the baseframe and a pivotal connection on the lower front portion of the seatframe, the pivotal con nections being generally vertically aligned whenthe seat frame is in its normal collapsed position, means for reversiblyactuating said tilting means effective to move said connecting means totilt said seat frame and to carry the front portion thereof in anarcuate path forwardly of and above the front portion of the base frameand move the seat frame pivotal connection in a direction forwardly ofthe pivotal connection on the base frame whereby the pivotal connectionsare not vertically aligned, and said connecting means includes adjustingmeans for selectively varying the .arcuate distance the front portion ofthe seat frame moves relative to the front portion of the base frame.

4. A chair as defined in claim 1 including means for reversiblyactuating the tilting of the seat frame and interconnected between theseat frame and the base frame.

5. A chair as defined in claim 4 in which the tilting means includes areversible driven lead screw having one end pivotably connected to theseat frame and the other end drivingly connected to a power means foradvancing and retracting said lead screw.

6. A chair as defined in claim 5 in which said other end of the leadscrew and the power means is pivotably connected to the base frame.

7. A chair as defined in claim 1 in which the connecting means comprisesa first lever having one end pivotably connected to the base frame bysaid pivotal connection on the upper front portion of the frame and theother end slidably connected to the seat frame and a second lever havingone end pivotably connected to the seat frame by said pivotal connectionon the front bottom portion of the seat frame and the other end slidablyconnected to the base frame, each of said levers having a middle portionwith a plurality of pin-receiving openings and there being a pininserted through aligned openings of the first and second levers toprovide an adjustable pivotal connection therebetween.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS229,227 Abel June 29, 1880 2,182,704- Rea Dec. 5, 1939 2,890,010Barkheimer June 9, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 286,632 Germany Aug. 24, 1915556,692 Germany Aug. 29, 1932 1,023,401 France Dec. 30, 1952

1. AN ADJUSTABLE CHAIR HAVING A SEAT FRAME WITH A FRONT PORTION AND ABASE FRAME WITH A FRONT PORTION FOR SUPPORTING AND THE SEAT FRAME,REVERSIBLE TILTING MEANS FOR MOVING THE SEAT FRAME TOWARD AND AWAY FROMTHE BASE FRAME AND INCLUDING CONNECTING MEANS FOR HINGEABLY CONNECTINGTHE FRONT PORTION OF THE SEAT FRAME WITH THE FRONT PORTION OF THE BASEFRAME INCLUDING A PIVOTAL CONNECTION ON THE UPPER FRONT PORTION OF THEBASE FRAME AND A PIVOTAL CONNECTION ON THE LOWER FRONT PORTION OF THESEAT FRAME, THE PIVOTAL CONNECTIONS BEING GENERALLY VERTICALLY ALIGNEDWHEN THE SEAT FRAME IS IN ITS NORMAL COLLAPSED POSITION, MEANS FORREVERSIBLY ACTUATING SAID TILTING MEANS EFFECTIVE TO MOVE SAIDCONNECTING MEANS TO TILT SAID SEAT FRAME AND TO CARRY THE FRONT PORTIONTHEREOF IN